2011 Domaine Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Chambolle-Musigny Les Fuees 1er Cru

Bright medium red. Reticent aromas of raspberry, strawberry and crushed stone. Rounder and sweeter than the village wine, with sexy herb and spice notes giving lift to the supple middle palate. Really saturates the mouth on the rising, echoing finish. Has a solid tannic spine to support a graceful evolution in bottle. Showing more stuffing than it did from barrel a year ago.

The 2011 Chambolle-Musigny Les Fuées is almost uncharacteristically deep, intense and voluptuous. Sweet red berries, flowers and hard candy all take shape in the glass. In 2011, the Fuées is racy and sensual to the core. All the elements are woven together in a fabric of unusual elegance and pure finesse.

The 2011 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Fuees feels like a step up from the Village Cru with more precision and intensity: raspberry, rose petals, a hint of wild mushroom and damp undergrowth. The palate is very harmonious and feminine with fine tannins encasing the light, almost tart red fruit. It feels very fresh and lively on the finish, but the aftertaste is long and satisfying. Drink now-2022+. I was delighted to return to the home of Frederic Mugnier in the cluster of houses that make up the village of Chambolle, his perhaps the grandest and most imposing. Those are not adjectives that would describe the man himself, ever congenial and humble when I met him at the domaine. I was there to taste his 2012s in barrel, but with some free time before my next appointment he kindly offered to show me his bottled 2011s. This is a producer whose wines I have warmed to in recent years. When I commenced my Burgundy odyssey in the 1990s I felt that his wines were outshone by his neighbor Christophe Roumier and felt that they did not quite reach their full potential. However, in recent vintages Frederic has really honed his style and to me he seems more comfortable with the level of new wood that he is using, even countenancing the idea of a grand cru sans new oak. The wines seem “happier,” as banal as that sounds. But they just sang from bottle with freshness, verve, personality and charm – facets of a great Burgundy wine. Most of these cuvees would have been allocated on release, but I am sure some 2011s remain available and they come highly recommended. A Becky Wasserman Selection, Le Serbet, various American importers, including: Martin Scott Wines, Little Neck, NY; tel. (516) 327-0808; Veritas Imports, Beverly Hills, CA; tel. (310) 205-3803; Toepfer Imports LLC, CO; tel. (303) 818-7640